Using citizen science to assess drivers of Common House Martin Delichon urbicum breeding performance

Many hirundine (swallows and martins) species are declining throughout their ranges. The Common House Martin Delichon urbicum is a migratory hirundine that breeds throughout Europe but has shown recent declines in some parts of the UK, particularly in the south. We conducted a large‐scale citizen science survey to assess how the breeding performance of House Martins, measured by the number of attempted broods and nest success, is influenced by nest‐specific, landscape and weather factors. Pairs in eastern parts of the UK started breeding earlier than those in the west, and breeding performance was higher in eastern regions. There was no effect of latitude on either aspect of breeding performance, so our measures of breeding performance alone do not help to explain differences in population trends across the UK. The probability of attempting multiple broods and producing successful nests was higher in previously used nests than in newly built nests, and in artificial nests than in natural nests. Nests built on plastic soffits of buildings were less likely to be multi‐brooded and less likely to be successful compared with other materials. Suggested conservation measures therefore include discouraging the removal of old nests and encouraging the installation of artificial nests, particularly on buildings with plastic soffits. This study provides comprehensive insight into the breeding biology of House Martins, and although our findings do not show conclusively that breeding performance is the sole driver of population trends, they go some way to explain declines in House Martins and ultimately provide information that may help conserve this species

Populations of high-value predators reflect the traits of their prey

The extent to which prey traits combine to influence the abundance of predators is still poorly understood, particularly for mixed predators in sympatry and in aquatic ecosystems. In this study, we characterise prey use and distribution in iconic bird (grey wagtails and Eurasian dippers) and fish species (brown trout and Atlantic salmon) to assess whether prey traits could predict populations of these four riverine predators. Specifically, we hypothesised that: 1) prey key traits would predict predator populations more effectively than 2) diversity of prey traits, 3) the taxonomic abundance or richness of prey (known as traditional or mass-effect types of biodiversity) or 4) the prevailing environmental conditions. Combined predator population sizes were predicted better by a few key traits – specifically those revealing prey habitat use, size and drifting behaviour – than by prey diversity or prey trait diversity or environmental conditions. Our findings demonstrate that the complex relationships between prey assemblages and multiple predator species can be represented mechanistically when the key prey traits that govern encounter and consumption rates are identified. Given their apparent potential to reveal trophic relationships, and to complement more traditional measures of prey abundance, we advocate further development of trait-based approaches in predator–prey research

Does the inclusion of 'professional development' teaching improve medical students' communication skills?

Background: This study investigated whether the introduction of professional development teaching in the first two years of a medical course improved students' observed communication skills with simulated patients. Students' observed communication skills were related to patient-centred attitudes, confidence in communicating with patients and performance in later clinical examinations.Methods: Eighty-two medical students from two consecutive cohorts at a UK medical school completed two videoed consultations with a simulated patient: one at the beginning of year 1 and one at the end of year 2. Group 1 (n = 35) received a traditional pre-clinical curriculum. Group 2 (n = 47) received a curriculum that included communication skills training integrated into a 'professional development' vertical module. Videoed consultations were rated using the Evans Interview Rating Scale by communication skills tutors. A subset of 27% were double-coded. Inter-rater reliability is reported.Results: Students who had received the professional development teaching achieved higher ratings for use of silence, not interrupting the patient, and keeping the discussion relevant compared to students receiving the traditional curriculum. Patient-centred attitudes were not related to observed communication. Students who were less nervous and felt they knew how to listen were rated as better communicators. Students receiving the traditional curriculum and who had been rated as better communicators when they entered medical school performed less well in the final year clinical examination.Conclusions: Students receiving the professional development training showed significant improvements in certain communication skills, but students in both cohorts improved over time. The lack of a relationship between observed communication skills and patient-centred attitudes may be a reflection of students' inexperience in working with patients, resulting in 'patient-centredness' being an abstract concept. Students in the early years of their medical course may benefit from further opportunities to practise basic communication skills on a one-to-one basis with patients

16(th) IHIW: population global distribution of killer immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) and ligands.

In the last fifteen years, published reports have described KIR gene-content frequency distributions in more than 120 populations worldwide. However, there have been limited studies examining these data in aggregate to detect overall patterns of variation at regional and global levels. Here, we present a summary of the collection of KIR gene-content data for 105 worldwide populations collected as part of the 15th and 16th International Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Workshops, and preliminary results for data analysis

Which older people decline participation in a primary care trial of physical activity and why: insights from a mixed methods approach

This article is available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund. Copyright 2014 Rogers et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.Background: Physical activity is of vital importance to older peoples’ health. Physical activity intervention studies with older people often have low recruitment, yet little is known about non-participants. Methods: Patients aged 60–74 years from three UK general practices were invited to participate in a nurse-supported pedometer-based walking intervention. Demographic characteristics of 298 participants and 690 non-participants were compared. Health status and physical activity of 298 participants and 183 non-participants who completed a survey were compared using age, sex adjusted odds ratios (OR) (95% confidence intervals). 15 non-participants were interviewed to explore perceived barriers to participation. Results: Recruitment was 30% (298/988). Participants were more likely than non-participants to be female (54% v 47%; p = 0.04) and to live in affluent postcodes (73% v 62% in top quintile; p < 0.001). Participants were more likely than non-participants who completed the survey to have an occupational pension OR 2.06 (1.35-3.13), a limiting longstanding illness OR 1.72 (1.05-2.79) and less likely to report being active OR 0.55 (0.33-0.93) or walking fast OR 0.56 (0.37-0.84). Interviewees supported general practice-based physical activity studies, particularly walking, but barriers to participation included: already sufficiently active, reluctance to walk alone or at night, physical symptoms, depression, time constraints, trial equipment and duration. Conclusion: Gender and deprivation differences suggest some selection bias. However, trial participants reported more health problems and lower activity than non-participants who completed the survey, suggesting appropriate trial selection in a general practice population. Non-participant interviewees indicated that shorter interventions, addressing physical symptoms and promoting confidence in pursuing physical activity, might increase trial recruitment and uptake of practice-based physical activity endeavours.The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) under its Research for Patient Benefit Programme (Grant Reference Number PB-PG-0909-20055)

International standards for fetal growth based on serial ultrasound measurements: the Fetal Growth Longitudinal Study of the INTERGROWTH-21st Project

Background: In 2006, WHO produced international growth standards for infants and children up to age 5 years on the basis of recommendations from a WHO expert committee. Using the same methods and conceptual approach, the Fetal Growth Longitudinal Study (FGLS), part of the INTERGROWTH-21st Project, aimed to develop international growth and size standards for fetuses. Methods: The multicentre, population-based FGLS assessed fetal growth in geographically defined urban populations in eight countries, in which most of the health and nutritional needs of mothers were met and adequate antenatal care was provided. We used ultrasound to take fetal anthropometric measurements prospectively from 14 weeks and 0 days of gestation until birth in a cohort of women with adequate health and nutritional status who were at low risk of intrauterine growth restriction. All women had a reliable estimate of gestational age confirmed by ultrasound measurement of fetal crown–rump length in the first trimester. The five primary ultrasound measures of fetal growth—head circumference, biparietal diameter, occipitofrontal diameter, abdominal circumference, and femur length—were obtained every 5 weeks (within 1 week either side) from 14 weeks to 42 weeks of gestation. The best fitting curves for the five measures were selected using second-degree fractional polynomials and further modelled in a multilevel framework to account for the longitudinal design of the study. Findings: We screened 13 108 women commencing antenatal care at less than 14 weeks and 0 days of gestation, of whom 4607 (35%) were eligible. 4321 (94%) eligible women had pregnancies without major complications and delivered live singletons without congenital malformations (the analysis population). We documented very low maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity, confirming that the participants were at low risk of adverse outcomes. For each of the five fetal growth measures, the mean differences between the observed and smoothed centiles for the 3rd, 50th, and 97th centiles, respectively, were small: 2·25 mm (SD 3·0), 0·02 mm (3·0), and −2·69 mm (3·2) for head circumference; 0·83 mm (0·9), −0·05 mm (0·8), and −0·84 mm (1·0) for biparietal diameter; 0·63 mm (1·2), 0·04 mm (1·1), and −1·05 mm (1·3) for occipitofrontal diameter; 2·99 mm (3·1), 0·25 mm (3·2), and −4·22 mm (3·7) for abdominal circumference; and 0·62 mm (0·8), 0·03 mm (0·8), and −0·65 mm (0·8) for femur length. We calculated the 3rd, 5th 10th, 50th, 90th, 95th and 97th centile curves according to gestational age for these ultrasound measures, representing the international standards for fetal growth. Interpretation: We recommend these international fetal growth standards for the clinical interpretation of routinely taken ultrasound measurements and for comparisons across populations. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Postnatal growth standards for preterm infants: the Preterm Postnatal Follow-up Study of the INTERGROWTH-21(st) Project.

BACKGROUND: Charts of size at birth are used to assess the postnatal growth of preterm babies on the assumption that extrauterine growth should mimic that in the uterus. METHODS: The INTERGROWTH-21(st) Project assessed fetal, newborn, and postnatal growth in eight geographically defined populations, in which maternal health care and nutritional needs were met. From these populations, the Fetal Growth Longitudinal Study selected low-risk women starting antenatal care before 14 weeks' gestation and monitored fetal growth by ultrasonography. All preterm births from this cohort were eligible for the Preterm Postnatal Follow-up Study, which included standardised anthropometric measurements, feeding practices based on breastfeeding, and data on morbidity, treatments, and development. To construct the preterm postnatal growth standards, we selected all live singletons born between 26 and before 37 weeks' gestation without congenital malformations, fetal growth restriction, or severe postnatal morbidity. We did analyses with second-degree fractional polynomial regression models in a multilevel framework accounting for repeated measures. Fetal and neonatal data were pooled from study sites and stratified by postmenstrual age. For neonates, boys and girls were assessed separately. FINDINGS: From 4607 women enrolled in the study, there were 224 preterm singleton births, of which 201 (90%) were enrolled in the Preterm Postnatal Follow-up Study. Variance component analysis showed that only 0·2% and 4·0% of the total variability in postnatal length and head circumference, respectively, could be attributed to between-site differences, justifying pooling the data from all study sites. Preterm growth patterns differed from those for babies in the INTERGROWTH-21(st) Newborn Size Standards. They overlapped with the WHO Child Growth Standards for term babies by 64 weeks' postmenstrual age. INTERPRETATION: Our data have yielded standards for postnatal growth in preterm infants. These standards should be used for the assessment of preterm infants until 64 weeks' postmenstrual age, after which the WHO Child Growth Standards are appropriate. Size-at-birth charts should not be used to measure postnatal growth of preterm infants. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

International standards for symphysis-fundal height based on serial measurements from the Fetal Growth Longitudinal Study of the INTERGROWTH-21st Project: prospective cohort study in eight countries

Objective To create international symphysis-fundal height standards derived from pregnancies of healthy women with good maternal and perinatal outcomes. Design Prospective longitudinal observational study. Setting Eight geographically diverse urban regions in Brazil, China, India, Italy, Kenya, Oman, United Kingdom, and United States. Participants Healthy, well nourished pregnant women enrolled into the Fetal Growth Longitudinal Study component of the INTERGROWTH-21st Project at 9-14 weeks’ gestation, and followed up until birth. Main outcome measures Symphysis-fundal height was measured every five weeks from 14 weeks’ gestation until birth using standardised methods and dedicated research staff who were blinded to the symphysis-fundal height measurements by turning the tape measure so that numbers were not visible during examination. The best fitting curve was selected using second degree fractional polynomials and further modelled in a multilevel framework to account for the longitudinal design of the study. Results Of 13 108 women screened in the first trimester, 4607 (35.1%) met the study entry criteria. Of the eligible women, 4321 (93.8%) had pregnancies without major complications and delivered live singletons without congenital malformations. The median number of symphysis-fundal height measurements was 5.0 (range 1-7); 3976 (92.0%) women had four or more measurements. Symphysis-fundal height measurements increased almost linearly with gestational age; data were used to determine fitted 3rd, 50th, and 97th centile curves, which showed excellent agreement with observed values. Conclusions This study presents international standards to measure symphysis-fundal height as a first level screening tool for fetal growth disturbances